SEATTLE -- Oregon coach George Horton could excuse the loss. A bad hop here, lack of luck there sort of thing. It's a game of inches, he said, and when two top 25 teams play each other, often times it comes down to who gets the right bounces.

What had the No. 19 Ducks' skipper heartbroken after Oregon's 1-0 loss to No. 14 Washington on Saturday was the unknown fate of his starting pitcher, Matt Krook.

Krook, Oregon's electric freshman, had to be pulled from the game in the third-inning with what Horton described as "stiffness in his arm."

Krook has had arm problems before, a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder cost him a chance to be a millionaire over the summer after being picked 35th overall by the Marlins in the MLB Draft. When he threw a 0-1 slider to Braden Bishop, dropped his glove and started making fists with his throwing hand, Horton didn't think twice about making a call to the bullpen.

"He said it was stiff and once I heard that it was a no brainer to get him out of there," Horton said. "It just kind of makes you sick to your stomach. He's a tremendous talent and hopefully it isn't anything serious."

The extent of Krook's injury will have a large impact on Oregon's season in the long run -- Horton said he’d be further evaluated next week -- but it had an immediate impact on Saturday.

Krook had allowed one hit and no runs through 2 1/3 innings, striking out four batters in the process. When Trent Paddon heard his named called from the bullpen, the reliever had to take off two jackets before making his way to the mound. A starter by trade, Paddon hadn't thrown a ball all day and found himself in the middle of a pitcher’s duel against the Pac-12's first-place team.

He entered with an 0-2 count and struck out Bishop with his first pitch. Then he walked the next batter and then gave up an RBI double to Robert Pehl.

Paddon was nearly flawless over the next three innings, as he didn’t allow a hit before being lifted for Jordan Spencer with an out in the seventh. But the one run he allowed in the third was enough to give the Huskies the game.

Oregon's bats didn't do anything to help its arms out. Although the Ducks out-hit the Huskies 5-2 on the night, Oregon couldn't muster anything against Washington starter Tyler Davis. The junior right-hander struck out a career-high 10 batters in 7 2/3 innings of three-hit ball, using a strong fastball and darting change up to frustrate Oregon all night.

"He just went on a roll and we did a poor job of getting him out of that," said third baseman Mitchell Tolman, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

The Ducks tried to mount a rally in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs for pinch-hitter Shaun Chase before he put a charge into a ball to left field, right at the left fielder to end the game.

It was a frustrating end for the Ducks, as the loss dropped Oregon (23-7, 7-4 Pac-12) two games back of the Huskies (21-6-1, 9-2) before Sunday's final game of the series. But depending on how Krook's MRI results come back next week, Saturday's score may just become a footnote.